Well hello Monday! Freezing cold but all the better for the weekends pummeling of Wigan.

Newsworthy stories today include the story that Wolves might be taking Frimpong on loan for the second half of the season. Had this been 3 years ago, I’ve no doubt that wouldn’t have happened. He’s a talented boy with passion by the bucket load, but he needs to learn to calm his temper and he needs to refine his passing. I’ve no doubt he’s capable of doing that, but the learning curve shouldn’t happen in our starting 11.

6 months in the rough and tumble of the Wolves starting 11 will be a great experience. Hopefully he’ll come out of it like Jack Wilshere did.

A player who has done the loan thing numerous times before but failed to ever make an impact outside the Carling Cup is Carlos Vela. I’ve always thought he has the magic very few possess, he’s just never been given a run to show it. Last night he trended globally after a super performance for Sociedad. He scored an over head kick for the winner and looked the business.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/golazo-carlos-vela-v-malaga/

What the coach doesn’t like about him isn’t clear. He’s shown more promise than plenty of other players at the club, so one would assume it’s his party arranging skills the boss dislikes or it’s his attitude.

Either way, it’s good to see him doing well in Spain. Maybe he’s just not suited to the rigors of the Premier League.

The FA Cup sees us drawn against Leeds United. They managed to nick a draw against us last year which forced a costly replay up North.

My Uncle is a Leeds fan and he was telling me last week that the defence is shambolic this year. Hopefully it will be in January when we play them. Arguably, replays cost us big last year.

With a fragile squad, we need to keep them to a minimum. It’d be fantastic to win the FA Cup… We haven’t for an age, which is a shame considering Wenger owned that trophy for most of the early part of his career.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was Chesney singing with the away fans. A lovely touch and again, a huge difference between this season and last. The players are enjoying victory more under Robin than Cesc and they seem to have a much better connection with the support base.

It’s a joy to watch. It doesn’t take much to reach out to the people who idolise you but it’s something that’s simmered out of the game over the last ten years. You don’t expect to have a beer after the game with the players these days, but it’s nice when the do a walk round of the stadium after and even better if they jump in and have a sing!

Talking of beering with the players. I was out in Mayfair on Saturday and it was amusing to see the West Brom players smashed out of their brains acting up. I also saw Daniel Sturridge out in the early hours of the morning. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just something I’m thankful doesn’t really go on too often with the Arsenal boys. That said, it must take incredible restraint to avoid the party scene. I’ve never seen money thrown around quite so liberally, and I’ve never seen girls swarm blokes quite like that.

If I had my time again… I’d be an alcoholic, womanising centre forward.

Olympiacos play host to us tomorrow night. They’re still looking to qualify for the knock out stages so it’ll be a tough game for the reserve squad we’ll send out there. Hopefully we’ll see a similar line up to the one that played last week against City. I’d like to see Benny get a run out and I’d love to see the Ox put in a top performance away in Europe. I think he could push for a place at the Euro’s if he starts putting in his performances now. He’s a game changer and his intelligence on and off the ball is far more mature than his age suggests.

It’ll also be another chance for Park and Chamakh to show they can mix it at the highest level. So far this year both have struggled to make and impact. Park has the excuse of a lack of game time, Chamakh doesn’t, when he gets too much game time he needs a mid-season break.

Gourcuff? I’d take a punt on him.
If he rises to the challenge, he could be even better than Cesc. Probably the most talented player of his generation imo. Question marks over his mental strength though.
Undoubted quality. Would be a very decent punt in January.

if flappy fucks off Schwarzer would be perfect, but he just signed a new contract recently & I can’t see him settling to be Chezzers understudy. If he rots on the bench his career will slowly die, its only by playing that he keeps his game in and profile up imo.

Lurch
Schwarzer is 39 and will be 40 by June next year, im pretty sure he would be willing to listen to Coach/Player offers, Flappy most certainly has to fuck off. Talking of keepers, how shit is Reina? keeps flapping the ball back to his defenders/opposition strikers for tap ins!

why, when schwarzer is discussed, does the conversation invariably turn to having him sign on as a player/coach? i fail to see the intelligence in bringing schwarzer for either of those positions. i think 2 years ago he let in 68 goals. is that adequate coverage for chez? double duty does not justify his place on an arsenal team. that said, almunia and flaps are still trying to justify their respective positions and have failed immeasurably.

We are going to defeat Everton this weekend, while Chelsea will get spanked for the umpteenth time by Man City. Who would have thunk? eh? The way we have gradually picked up. Hope Wenger is finally being realistic, then a very sharp knife, cuts a big hole on Stan’s heavily glued and tight purse, so that we could actually freshen up the team with hungry players.

Suarez would do well any top side in the world much, I’d say Chelsea bought the wrong striker.
I said here before that Vela seems to suit La Liga well he got some chances early last season but got left out later on maybe cause he didn’t have the right attitude in training, hopefully they’ll be impressed enough to sign him for a decent fee.

Liverpool seem to be this seasons Spurs dropping points against average teams except they’ve spent more and have no midweek European games. They can’t hit a barn door (the post) but still very much contenders for the top4 with still much to play for and the January window also around the corner.

Hussain I would think most scouts would see that Kalou is quick and has some talent but he’s inconsistent and frustrating plus he’s off to the ANC in January. There are more reliable players playing for lesser sides in this league, maybe it’s that they get so much coverage over here it’s easier to scrutinize them when them and their team play badly.